Alfred the Great
(AD 849- 899)
(reigned 871-899)
Alfred’s Childhood
• Alfred was born in Wantage, Berkshire in 849 as the fifth son
of Aethelwulf (Ethelwulf), King of Wessex and Osburh
(Osburga), his queen.
• He was of the royal house of the Jutes of Wight.
• Alfred was born into England which was suffering from Danish
attacks.
• At the age of five Alfred was sent to Rome where he was
received with honour by Pope Leo IV. The purpose of his visit
is not known.
• Two years later Alfred went on
pilgrimage to Rome again with his
father who thought he was close to
death. They returned to England
after a year in Rome and also
visited Charles the Bald, King of
the Franks.
• In 858 Ethewulf died and Wessex was governed by his
sons, Aethelbald, Aethelbert, and Aethelred, successively,
until 871, when Alfred came to the throne.
Alfred’s Reign
• During the reigns of Aethelbald (855860) and Aethelbert (860- 866) nothing
much is heard of Alfred. With the
accession of his brother Aethelred I (866871) Alfred’s public life began.
• In 868 Alfred married
Ealswith, daughter of Aethelred.
• Alfred fought with his brother against the
Danes to relieve Mercia from their pressure.
• In 871 Aethelred was killed in battle at Ashdown.
• Alfred became the King of Wessex.
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Alfred did not want to go into battle,
so he kept the peace by paying tribute
to the Danes for four years.
But in 876, the Vikings, under a new
leader, Guthrum, slipped past him and
attacked the lands of the Saxons.
In 877 Alfred the Great blockaded
them and the Danes whose fleet had
been scattered by the storm had to
submit and withdraw to Mercia.
The next year another invasion took
place. The Danes went on killing
people and forced Alfred to flee to
Somerset marshes.
The Vikings
• Used fast mobile armies
• Raided the coasts and inland waters of
England
• Overcame East Anglia and Mercia
Alfred:
reorganised the army,
created a series of fortifications,
constructed a fleet of ships
•In 878 the King won the
Vikings at the Battle of
Edington.
•As a result England
became split in two:
1) The Danelaw
2) Land of the Saxons
which now included West
Mercia and Kent.
•king Guthrum was
converted to Christianity
•By 886 he had captured the city of London
and Welsh kings sought alliances with him.
•Soon afterward he was referred to as
‘King of the English' .
•Alfred's charters and coinage referred to
him as 'king of the English'
Alfred the Great was a wise king
• Started the ultimate unification
of Anglo-Saxon England
• established a legal code
• promoted education
• supported the arts
• translated Latin books into
Anglo-Saxon
• translated Ecclesiastical
History of the English People
• was patron of the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle
• "Father of the English Navy"
Alfred’s Importance
• Alfred increased the
royal navy and a lot of
ships were built in the
Danish style to beat the
Vikings.
• He built fortresses (burh’s) all over Southern England to
protect the country. Soon these places became the centres of
trade and local goverment.
• He also created the fyrd- the reguar army of the peasants.
• Alfred valued education. He thought
that the illiteracy and the fall in
religion was caused by the Vikings
who destroyed the monasteries.
• To improve literacy he arranged the
translation of many books from Latin
into Anglo- Saxon. Alfred was the
patron of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a
patriotic history of the English.
• He also put down a definite body of the Anglo- Saxon law.
• Alfred - alone of all the
English kings and queens
- is known as 'the Great'.
• Alfred the Great died on
the 26 October 899 at the
age of 50 and was buried in
Winchester.
Winchester, the burial place of the
West Saxon royal family
The end